Snotter thread - 1997 Citroen AX 1.0 Spree
Discussion
Just bought an old snotter for my girlfriend to learn to drive in / drive as her first car - a 1997 Citroen AX 1.0 Spree with about 118k on the clock.
Seems to be very sound mechanically apart from the fact the handbrake needs adjustment which I am hoping to tackle when my Haynes manual arrives. So far I've had to replace the washer pump (£19 but would've been cheaper if I'd bought one on eBay), fit a CD player because the factory radio wouldn't accept the code I had scribbled down (£5 for a CD player from a car boot and £9 for tools and adaptors to make it work from Halfords) and replace the number plates (£11) because the 16 year old dealer fit ones were badly faded and barely MOT legal. Driven a couple of hundred miles in it so far without fault - burns cleanly with no smoke and steering/brakes/etc are perfect if a blast from the past with no power assisted anything
Bodywork is dog-rough but it does appear to be solid enough.
Boatloads of history here with years worth of receipts for various repairs - a service in February and some MOT work in April totalling well over £200. I paid £300 with 12 months MOT!
Quick photo showing the difference something simple like changing the plates makes to the look:
More to follow along with some progress reports
Seems to be very sound mechanically apart from the fact the handbrake needs adjustment which I am hoping to tackle when my Haynes manual arrives. So far I've had to replace the washer pump (£19 but would've been cheaper if I'd bought one on eBay), fit a CD player because the factory radio wouldn't accept the code I had scribbled down (£5 for a CD player from a car boot and £9 for tools and adaptors to make it work from Halfords) and replace the number plates (£11) because the 16 year old dealer fit ones were badly faded and barely MOT legal. Driven a couple of hundred miles in it so far without fault - burns cleanly with no smoke and steering/brakes/etc are perfect if a blast from the past with no power assisted anything
Bodywork is dog-rough but it does appear to be solid enough.
Boatloads of history here with years worth of receipts for various repairs - a service in February and some MOT work in April totalling well over £200. I paid £300 with 12 months MOT!
Quick photo showing the difference something simple like changing the plates makes to the look:
More to follow along with some progress reports
Edited by Toaster Pilot on Wednesday 5th June 13:37
I had an ax as my first car. It was a 1.1 and was quite nippy as it weighed about the same as a fun sized Mars bar. They are pretty robust if they are looked after, just watch out for drive shafts clicking - cheap to fix tho.
See my garage to get an idea of the abuse it sustained in my tenure. It was 10 years ago now and I was just 19!
New plates can transform a car, it's one of the first things I do to any of my cars if they are looking a bit scabby.
See my garage to get an idea of the abuse it sustained in my tenure. It was 10 years ago now and I was just 19!
New plates can transform a car, it's one of the first things I do to any of my cars if they are looking a bit scabby.
Edited by Garett on Wednesday 5th June 22:01
I had an AX in about 2000, bought as a stop-gap after my previous car caught fire.
I haggled the price down from an advertised £2500 to £250 (seriously!) and ran it for a couple of years before selling it for £750.
In that time, it had a building collapse on it as I drove past, lost its front left wing on a bridge edge when it had a blowout and was resprayed three times after the insurance approved repairer made an absolute bks of the repair.
Horrible little car, but it did everything I needed it to do.
I haggled the price down from an advertised £2500 to £250 (seriously!) and ran it for a couple of years before selling it for £750.
In that time, it had a building collapse on it as I drove past, lost its front left wing on a bridge edge when it had a blowout and was resprayed three times after the insurance approved repairer made an absolute bks of the repair.
Horrible little car, but it did everything I needed it to do.
Toaster Pilot said:
Woah - it goes but it's not very well at all. Lots of whining/squealing when cold but not like a belt squeal - more like gearbox/thrust bearing.
Once it's warm it drives alright though!
For a cheap car that I didn't care too much for I'd just plod through it and bin when it breaks....Once it's warm it drives alright though!
I am a harsh bd to cars sometimes though..
I might actually end up keeping this a bit longer - I've been offered workshop space about 20 miles from home and would need something that could get me to/from home if whatever car I'm working on needs to stay for a few days.
The whine from the transmission is comical, and I'll probably want to investigate it if I keep it longer!
The whine from the transmission is comical, and I'll probably want to investigate it if I keep it longer!
Toaster Pilot said:
That's true - anyone know how to do that on these?
if its the same as my 106 gti which i checked, you open up the filler bolt (not breather) and when you cant put any more oil in its fullyou'd have to do this on level ground
maybe have a look on a saxo forum to confirm / deny
Changed the gearbox oil, it's quietened down a bit but still squeals like a good 'un when cold - I assume the level was a bit low but the release bearing is also on it's way out. Has a leak near the gear linkage, not sure if it's a seal on the linkage itself or the drivers side driveshaft, need to investigate further.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff